सोम [ soma ] [ sóma ]1 m. ( fr. √ 3. [su ] ) juice , extract , (esp.) the juice of the Soma plant , (also) the Soma plant itself (said to be the climbing plant Sarcostema Viminalis or Asclepias Acida , the stalks ( [aṃśu ] ) of which were pressed between stones ( [adri ] ) by the priests , then sprinkled with water , and purified in a strainer ( [pavitra ] ) ; whence the acid juice trinkled into jars ( [kalaśa ] ) or larger vessels ( [droṇa ] ) ; after which it was mixed with clarified butter , flour , made to ferment , and then offered in libations to the gods ( in this respect corresponding with the ritual of the Iranian Avesta ) or was drunk by the Brāhmans , by both of whom its exhilarating effect was supposed to be prized ; it was collected by moonlight on certain mountains ( in Lit. RV. x , 34 , 1, the mountain Mūja-vat is mentioned ) ; it is sometimes described as having been brought from the sky by a falcon ( [śyena ] ) and guarded by the Gandharvas ; it is personified as one of the most important of Vedic gods , to whose praise all the 114 hymns of the 9th book of the Lit. RV. besides 6 in other books and the whole Lit. SV. are dedicated ; in post-Vedic mythology and even in a few of the latest hymns of the Lit. RV. ( although not in the whole of the 9th book ) as well as sometimes in the Lit. AV. and in the Lit. Br. , Soma is identified with the moon ( as the receptacle of the other beverage of the gods called Amṛita , or as the lord of plants cf. [indu ] , [oṣadhi-pati ] ) and with the god of the moon , as well as with Vishṇu , Śiva , Yama , and Kubera ; he is called [rājan ] , and appears among the 8 Vasus and the 8 Loka-pālas ( Lit. Mn. v , 96 ) , and is the reputed author of Lit. RV. x , 124 , 1 , 5-9, of a law-book ; cf. below) Lit. RV.

[ somanātha ] n.N. of a celebrated Liṅga of Śiva and of the place where it was set up by the god Soma (in the town described below ; it was one of the 12 great Liṅga temples of India held in especial veneration ( cf. Lit. IW. 322 n. 1 ) , and was so famed for its splendour and wealth that it attracted the celebrated Mahmūd of Ghaznī , A.D. 1024 , who , under pretext of destroying its idols , carried off its treasures along with its renowned gates) Lit. Vcar. Lit. Vop. Lit. Cat. Lit. Col.

सोमनाथपत्तन [ somanāthapattana ] [ sóma-nātha--pattana ] n.N. of a town on the western coast of India (commonly called Somnath Pattan in Kāthiāwār , celebrated for the Śiva temple above described) Lit. MW.